179: How Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Are Transforming Care for Diabetes and Autoimmune Diseases with Lindsay Davies - Part 1

The key to conquering autoimmune diseases and type 1 diabetes may lie not in replacing lost cells, but in retraining the immune system using cells already within the body.

Biotech is increasingly exploring stem cell therapies, but a quieter revolution is brewing: stromal cell therapy. These master “coordinators” aren’t about rebuilding tissues molecule by molecule - instead, they orchestrate an anti-inflammatory response, offering new hope for conditions once considered incurable.

In this episode of the Smart Biotech Scientist Podcast, host David Brühlmann speaks with Lindsay Davies, a leading expert in advanced therapies. She is the CSO at NextCell Pharma, consultant at CellTherEx, and co-founder of QVance, a QC analytics provider for ATMPs. Recently elected Vice President Elect for Europe at ISCT, Lindsay also chairs its European Industry Committee and serves on multiple task forces. With over 20 years bridging academia and industry, she’s helped shape the full lifecycle of cell-based therapies, from development to commercialization.

Here are three reasons why you can’t miss this episode:

• Stromal Cells - The Unsung Heroes: Discover the essential distinction between stem cells (the “builders”) and stromal cells (the “coordinators”), and how harnessing the latter’s unique immune-modulatory powers is unlocking treatments for diabetes, COVID-19, and autoimmune diseases.
• A Manufacturing Mindset Shift: Lindsay explains why scaling out cell therapies defies the “plug-and-play” approaches of traditional biologics manufacturing. With cell quality so sensitive to environmental shifts, the key lies in process simplicity, early regulatory collaboration, and deep biological understanding - especially when donor variability enters the mix.
• Allogeneic Therapies Made Real: Thanks to umbilical cord-derived stromal cells, treatments can be manufactured at scale, stored frozen, and delivered on demand - no patient matching required. The result? Outpatient infusions, no side effects, and effects lasting up to five years, dramatically simplifying lives for those with chronic inflammatory conditions.

Ready to rethink how cell therapies are changing medicine - and what it could mean for your bioprocessing strategy? Hit play and find out how Lindsay Davis is redefining what’s possible in advanced therapy manufacturing.

Connect with Lindsay Davis:

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lindsay-c-davies

Website: www.nextcellpharma.com

If you're interested in breakthroughs in cell therapy, here's what some of our previous guests have shared from the front lines of innovation:

• Episodes 105-106: From Proteins to Cell Therapy: Why ATMPs Aren't Just Complex Biologics with Oliver Kraemer
• Episodes 109-110: Spinning Like Earth: Designing Low-Shear Bioreactors for Better Cell Culture with Olivier Detournay
• Episodes 125-126: How to Enhance Cell Engineering Using Mechanical Intracellular Delivery with Armon Sharei

Next step:

Book a free consultation to help you get started on any questions you may have about bioprocess development: https://bruehlmann-consulting.com/call

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